


A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes

by jj_writes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith loves Cinderella, Lance won't stop talking about Disney princesses, M/M, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Princess AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-02-15 17:37:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18674353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jj_writes/pseuds/jj_writes
Summary: Lance won’t stop talking about Disney princesses. It’s annoying, really, that he won’t stop talking about how amazing they all are even if they’re in the middle of a strenuous fight. Most of the paladins don’t even care about princesses. In fact, one of their own is a princess, so it kind of dulls the fake ones by comparison.Unlike the rest of them, Keith feels the same way as Lance, but he’s less keen to talk about it. He’ll opt to roll his eyes when Lance starts talking about how “Mulan isn’t really a princess, but she should be!” or respond, “I don’t care!” when asked if Anna and Elsa should be officiated as official Disney princesses (even though they should). Despite his tendency to pretend he doesn’t care, Keith is secretly a sucker for Cinderella. An even deeper secret than his love for Cinderella is the fact that he’s also a sucker for Lance.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, all! I haven't actually finished the show (and honestly don't plan to) but I'm still in love with the fanon characters. This work was half-written nearly two years ago, and I got the random urge to finish it now. Please ignore any plot holes that conflict with the show, and please enjoy!

"But have you seen Pocahontas?"

Keith groans in annoyance, quickly slamming himself against the wall, just barely avoiding a few lasers that nearly kill him. He takes just a moment to blame his slip up on the distraction by cursing under his breath, but gets over it and rolls away from his position as soon as it's clear. He slices the soldier in half with his sword, and only then does he answer the boy that's standing just a few feet away.

"Yes, Lance, I've seen Pocahontas. Is this really the time to be discussing it, though?"

Lance scoffs, and glances over at him to mockingly repeat, "Is this REALLY the time to be discussing it?" A brief pause ensues while he screams at what Keith assumes to be another soldier (Keith is too busy taking down a row of his own to check), and then Lance returns a quip in his normal voice. "It's always the time to talk about Pocahontas. She's a badass."

Keith rolls his eyes, and is about to reply when Pidge joins their conversation, sidling up between them. "I'm glad you two have time to chat about cartoons or whatever, but we're sorta busy at the moment."

This does nothing to silence Lance, however, who stops what he's doing to express his outrage at their addition. "CARTOONS?!" he bellows, turning towards them with a crazy look in his eyes.

"You've really done it now, Pidge," Hunk huffs as he runs past, followed by even more enemies. He's correct, as Lance immediately begins to rant about Pidge's comment even after they run off to assist Hunk.

"The Disney princesses are MUCH more than cartoons, Pidge!" Lance screams. "Those girls are idols! Mulan saved China, Moana saved Motunui, Tiana and Cinderella worked hard to get what they wanted, and-OOOF."

He falls to the ground with a heavy thump, cut off mid-spew by a soldier that snuck up behind him. Keith hears him screeching and turns to assist, but before he even makes it halfway back to Lance's side, a voice interrupts.

"END TRAINING SESSION," Shiro yells from the side of the room. Keith can immediately sense that he's pissed, and opts to quietly slide to a halt and wait to be addressed. Pidge and Hunk do the opposite; they both groan in agony, dropping their weapons to the ground and letting their bodies fall close behind. The simulation had been running for quite a few ticks, hence Lance's boredom that resulted in his immediate need for conversation.

The bots all silenced, Shiro takes long strides to stand in front of the four younger paladins, all on the ground save Keith, with an unpleasant look on his face. Pidge and Hunk scramble to their feet and stand up tall, mimicking Keith, but Lance stays on the ground rubbing the back of his head.

"Ow, that one really got me," he grumbles.

"Is this just a big joke to you?" Shiro bellows angrily. Keith flinches just a little- Shiro is usually the calm, collected adult in every situation. This time, however, his tone suggests that he is anything but calm. "This isn't playtime, Lance. We have a mission. Us paladins need to-"

"'To always be ready, for whatever mission comes our way next,'" Lance interrupts and finishes for him, a bored tinge to his voice making itself apparent. The way he's sitting can only be described as cocky; he’s leaning back on both of his elbows, one leg flat on the ground and the other leisurely bent. The only way he could be more of an asshole at this moment in particular is if he was noisily chomping on gum. Keith prays to whatever higher force there may be that Lance would keep his obnoxious mouth shut.

"I know how to fight, Shiro. These training sessions are stupid."

"Lance-" Keith interjects, trying to diffuse the situation. He takes a few steps forward but Shiro holds a hand out.

"Quiet, Keith," he growls without even looking at him. "All of you, out."

Hunk and Pidge meet eyes and silently walk out of the room, but Keith stands his ground and continues staring at Shiro, calculating his next move. At this point, Lance finally realizes he's about to be yelled at, and gets to his feet. He probably knows he messed up, but does nothing to mend the situation; he just stands there. Shiro glances around to see if everyone else left, and his eyes twitch upon seeing they haven't.

"I'm not leaving," Keith tells him flatly. "You're angry, and I get that, but you need to calm down."

"You think I'm making you train for no reason?" Shiro asks Lance, ignoring the other in the room completely. "That I'm just doing it for shits and giggles?"

Keith bites his tongue in an effort to keep his mouth shut when Lance rolls his eyes and crosses his arms at the older paladin. "No, Shiro, I just think it's a bit excessive. We've won, like, a BUNCH of battles, so obviously we've trained well."

Shiro outright laughs at this, somehow resonating a sarcastic nature, and Lance narrows his eyes. By the time Shiro's done laughing, Lance is pissed too.

"What's so funny, Shiro? Really, I'm just dying to know," he bites.

Shiro just shakes his head and softly questions, "You just don't get it, do you?"

Lance throws up his hands, exasperated. "Get what?"

Keith knows that whatever happens next is really going to mess up the entire team. Everyone has been on edge since their last mission, a failure. The paladins arrived to a distress call late only to discover that the planet had already been conquered and stripped of any useful materials. They got held up on another planet not that far away, and didn't manage to get there before the Galra destroyed everything. Sure, they'd failed missions before, but somehow it made it worse when they could have stopped it if only they had arrived earlier. It'd only been a matter of time before someone snapped. Out of everyone, though, Keith would never have expected Shiro to be the one to crack under the pressure of their guilt.

"That I'm only trying to make you a better fighter!"

Shiro's tone is accusing, as if he's daring Lance to argue back. Lance, being Lance, takes the bait and argues back.

"Suddenly I don't know how to fight? Yeah, that makes sense."

"I didn't say you didn't know how to fight, I said to make you better than you are."

"Oh, and I'm not a good fighter now?"

"Not compared to the rest of us!"

There it was. Out of anything Shiro could have said, that was probably the worst insecurity of Lance's he could have aimed for. He realizes it straight away too, blinking his anger away once he sees Lance's hurt expression. Everyone knew that Lance feels like he is inferior to the rest of them. He had mentioned it on late nights when they all hung around bottles of alcohol, too wasted to have a filter on his fears and feelings. Keith thought he was the only one to pay attention to his teammate's ramblings, but now it's apparent that he isn't. The rest of the paladins were kids- Shiro, though, is an adult; he's been through more shit than all of them. Keith couldn't believe that such a low blow came from someone they all looked up to.

"What the fuck?" he says, summing up his thoughts, staring at the older man in shock. He knows that Shiro feels bad purely by his expression, but that doesn't change the fact that he said what he said. Lance huffs, turns, and begins towards the door in a hurry, obviously trying to escape the situation.

"That was horrible, Lance, I'm sorry," Shiro says, trailing after him. Before he can get too far, Keith stops him with one of his hands and a gentle shake of his head.

"I'll go after him, Shiro. You can apologize later." He pauses and takes a step back, about to walk away when he adds softly, "I know we're all stressed out, but that was messed up, dude. I'm just saying."

With that, he follows Lance out of the door and into the hallway. Pidge is standing there, a confused expression adorning their face. They try asking what happened, but Keith is already far ahead, trying to catch up to Lance's long strides.

"Lance!" he yells. Regardless of his name being called out, Lance keeps navigating through the hallways to nowhere in particular, trying to escape his tail. It's no use, though, as Keith has always been the fastest out of all of them. He finally catches up, and calls out his name again, directly behind him this time.

"What?!" Lance barks out, suddenly stopping and spinning around. Keith nearly topples into him and is about to yell for him to watch it, but the words die in his throat when he sees tears in Lance's eyes. His face immediately softens and he takes a step back. "Oh, Lance," he says quietly.

Lance huffs and turns away, crossing his arms angrily. "You can make fun of me for being a baby all you want," he mutters, defeated. He's surprised when Keith reaches out and untwists his arms. He's even more surprised when Keith steps in front of him and interlocks their hands in a comforting gesture (something he never does on account of how little he likes being touched.)

"You're not a baby for being upset, Lance."

He says nothing in return, looking down at their hands and lightly rubbing his thumb on one of Keith's gloves. Feeling the texture of it is a good distraction from the situation. It doesn't last long, though, because the red paladin insists on talking it out. One of his hands reaches up and grabs Lance's chin, forcing him to meet his eyes.

"Lance. We are all stressed out and tired. What Shiro said was said out of anger, and not true. You know that."

The sincerity in his voice and the gentleness in his eyes convinces Lance it's the truth. He nods and pulls away to wipe his eyes, slightly embarrassed. Keith isn't done though, because as quickly as they stepped apart they're back together again, closer now, because Keith decides to give Lance a hug.

Quite frankly, it's pretty shocking. Keith has never been the kind of person to give hugs, ever. He's always been the loner type, the boy that would prefer being by himself rather than with a friend or group. Although it's gotten better since he became a part of Voltron, he still chooses to keep his distance most of the time. So when he envelopes the both of them in a hug, Lance is both surprised and overjoyed that he's on Keith's short list of hug-worthy people. And Lance, being Lance, can't help expressing his joy.

"I'm special enough to get a hug?" he asks, half joking, half curious. Keith laughs into his neck, a deep chuckle, tickling his skin with the little puffs of breath.

They pull apart and Keith mumbles, "Maybe I needed a hug, too."

Lance smiles at him even though his head is down and replies, "I'm glad I'm such a big help."

After that, they fall into a slightly awkward silence, and Lance's smile slowly fades off of his face. With a sigh, he slides down the wall and onto the floor, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. He hears Keith do the same beside him just a few seconds later, and cracks open an eye to peek at him.

Keith is looking down at his hands, which are hanging between his bent knees. Lance opens the other eye once he knows he's not being watched and wonders what he's thinking about. He gets his answer a few seconds later when Keith says, "I know that Mulan and Tiana are probably the best princesses, but I've always been a sucker for Cinderella."

Lance is intrigued, and stays quiet, hoping for an explanation. Keith furrows his eyebrows, definitely debating whether or not he's going to go in depth. He opts for it, a small sigh escaping his lips before continuing. "The whole 'hard-working orphan that does what she can' really resonated with me when I was little." He lets out a small chuckle, but Lance doesn't see what's funny. "I had the evil stepsiblings and stepparents in some of the homes I went to, I just never really made it to the fairy godmother or marrying a handsome prince part of the story."

Lance searches the side profile of Keith, wondering how to respond, but Keith beats him to the punch by clearing his throat and looking up. Lance begins to blush, caught in the act of checking the other out, and averts his eyes.

"I, uh, I really like Tiana," he manages to choke out, finding something interesting down the hallway, refusing to look back at Keith.

"Yeah? Any reason?"

Lance just shrugs, and hopes his face isn't as red when he finally turns around. Keith is still staring at him, but Lance is almost sure that he can handle the intense eye contact.

Almost.

"My mom and dad had to work pretty hard before my older siblings could get jobs to help out," he babbles. "I guess I just like her work ethic." He pauses, opens his mouth, looks like he's about to say something else, and then shuts it again. He resolves his internal conflict of whether or not to continue by quietly saying, "I wish I would have known you before we went into space."

Keith gets a little sparkle in his eye when he replies back, "Yeah?"

Lance gives a curt nod with a small smile on his face. "Yeah," he confirms, "Maybe I could have been your fairy godfather, gotten you a date at the ball."

Keith snorts and shakes his head, and Lance chuckles. He'll take it as a win. There's another silence, but it isn't awkward this time; it's comfortable. They sit there for a little while, stupid content smiles adorning their faces. Suddenly, Keith turns and faces Lance. His face is an open book, and Lance knows whatever he says next is important.

"Lance, I just wanted to tell you-"

He's interrupted by the alarm that begins blaring throughout the castle, alerting them that they're under attack. Keith forgets what he was about to say and jumps to his feet, extending an arm out to Lance who takes it and follows suit. They share a quick glance and immediately take off running towards their lions.

"What's happening?" Keith yells once they get into the loading bay. Shiro and Pidge are already in their lions, but Hunk is still putting on his armor just outside Yellow.

"The castle is under attack by a small fleet of alien ships!" he responds. "Allura thinks that they’re from the planet we just passed and that they decided to attack!"

Keith curses and finds his armor, still in a pile from when Shiro made them take it off for the second half of their training earlier that day. He knows that he's supposed to be focusing only on the battle that is about to occur, but his mind keeps wandering back to his conversation with Lance. Maybe it's just all of the emotions running rampant throughout the team that lead him to nearly say what he was about to. In all honesty, Keith isn't sure if he's regretful or relieved that the alarm made him hold off on his confession. By the time he's ready to put on his helmet, he's bitten his lip hard enough to draw blood from being so indecisive in his thoughts.

"Uh, Keith? That's my helmet."

Lance's voice snaps him out of his short stupor and he looks down. He is, indeed, holding a blue helmet rather than a red one. Flushing, he thrusts it out at Lance and switches their helmets, quickly putting his own on.

"Let's go," he says, finally managing to slide into battle mode as they both run towards their respective lions. In no time, all five paladins launch into space and easily find the small fleet of aliens that are firing at the castle. In only a moment, Shiro begins barking out orders and a plan of attack. As there are only around 12 enemy ships, the paladins assume it will only be a short battle before the aliens retreat.

Per usual, it's not that simple.

"What is their DEAL?" Lance yells after ten minutes of seemingly unnecessary battle. Only a few of their ships had to return back to their planet; otherwise, the battle was still going on just as intensely as it was when it started. "We didn't do anything to them!"

"I don't know, Lance," Pidge replies over the comm system. "Perhaps they're working with Zarkon?"

"Could be," Hunk says, "But if that's true, we have to hurry up and get out of here. Galra could be on their way here right now."

They fall silent after that and try to focus on the battle. Keith and Pidge drop to attack from below while the other three raise higher, and each paladin focuses on their own couple enemy ships. After having destroyed countless members of the fleet, the team simultaneously draws the same conclusion.

"There are more of them," Keith whispers, taken aback. It's true; while each of them were dodging and weaving to avoid and land attacks, other ships presumably from the same species joined the battle.

"We have to retreat," he says at the same time Lance says, "We have to form Voltron!"

There's a brief pause before they both begin arguing.

"What do you mean, retreat?! Voltron doesn't retreat!"

"There are too many of them, Lance! We should get out before we get hurt!"

"Are you serious? We can't just leave! Hello, we're the defenders of the universe. We have to, oh, I don't know, PROTECT THE UNIVERSE!"

"Lance, I-"

Keith doesn't get the opportunity to finish whatever he was about to reply with. One of the ships taken down from above manages to slam into him while he’s too busy arguing to pay attention to the rest of his team’s actions. Red immediately careens to the side, damaged heavily by the impact of the enormous vessel and rendering her flight impossible. 

The next few seconds both last an eternity and the blink of an eye; the other four barely understand what's happening until the severity of the hit makes itself known when the other ship spins the other direction. Red’s entire left flank is crushed inwards. The jostling realization that Keith is going down hits them at the same exact time, and yet they only watch as Red begins descending, pulled by the world below’s gravitational pull. Lance is the first to react, snapping into action as soon as he comprehends the situation.

"KEITH!" he screeches, horrified, immediately abandoning his post in favor of diving after Keith.

Inside Red, the collision makes Keith fly out of his chair and hit the wall. Even with a helmet on, he smashes his head extremely hard and falls to the floor. Debris falls around him as he tries to get up, but his vision blurs and he collapses back down. He hears Lance call his name even through the buzzing in his ears and tries to reply, but he only manages a weak noise before losing consciousness completely.

His lion shuts down at the same time that he gets knocked out, accepting what comes next for her. Regardless of how fast Blue is going, Lance doesn’t manage to catch up to Keith before Red plows into the planet below.


	2. Chapter 2

“KEITH!”

Keith groans and turns over, choosing to ignore whoever just called for him in favor of doing nothing instead. His head is pounding and even though he feels like he’s been out for 12 hours, he could use 12 hours more. He snuggles his head into the pillow and attempts to drift back to sleep.

“KEITH!”

The voice calls for him again and he groans louder, but actually sits up this time. Opening his eyes, he notices straight away that he has no idea where he is. In less than a second he throws off the covers, jumps to his feet, and looks around in alarm, trying to comprehend his surroundings. It's obvious he's not in space; he appears to be in a cramped wooden room, only a fourth the size of his room back in the castle. The single similarity between that room and this is the lack of furniture and personal belongings, this one containing a tiny bed and dresser. Peering out of the only window within the four walls confirms Keith’s suspicions when he sees an overgrown garden rather than the endless expanse of space. On the verge of panic, he tries to calm himself by looking around for his knife that he always keep close by while he sleeps, but the weapon is nowhere to be seen. He even searches his person only to find that he's not even wearing his own clothes; rather, dirty rags that look like they belong on a corpse, not a respected paladin of Voltron. He groans in disgust and prepares to take them off when the door to his room slams open. Pidge runs in, red in the face and extremely angry. Regardless, Keith is immediately relieved to see them, and drops his guard to ask what’s going on. He doesn't get the chance, however, before they start yelling.

“Are you deaf?” Pidge snarls, adorning a nasty expression. “I called for you, like, five minutes ago.”

Shocked, Keith stares, jaw dropping at the awful tone his friend sassed him with. Although Pidge is definitely sarcastic (although not as bad as Lance, the smartass) they are rarely ever flat-out rude. Yet here they are, on top of the personality change dressed differently than usual as well, formerly wild hair kept trim and slicked back, baggy and comfortable clothes exchanged for expensive looking formal wear even though it’s (presumably) morning. Even their glasses are covered with jewels, and the entire look just rubs Keith the wrong way. His friend is usually humble and lax about their appearance, not so proper and boastful. By the time Keith puts together the clues and registers for the first time that the world is completely different from what it was before he fell asleep, Pidge has grown impatient.

“Seriously, Keith? You know the ball is tonight and you're already late to your chores. Plus, Hunk hasn't eaten yet, and you _know_ he gets angry without his breakfast. I mean, _seriously!_ ”

Keith, never one to disobey orders regardless of whether it comes from Shiro or this weird Pidge clone, slowly nods, still speechless. Pidge decides it's a good enough response, though, and rolls their eyes behind their bedazzled glasses before giving a huff and storming out of the room. Keith gives himself just a moment to recover from the strange encounter and then follows Pidge down the rickety old stairs. He opens a creaky door and finds himself in a spacious, luxurious kitchen, the opposite of the room he was in prior. However, his eyes immediately jump over to Hunk, who's sitting at the table in the center of the room. His appearance is akin to Pidge’s, hair slicked back and wearing a tux, although he's sporting a jeweled headband rather than glasses.

“Well?”

The voice cuts into Keith’s observations, and it takes him a moment to snap back into reality. The moment takes too long for Hunk, apparently, who whines, “I want my food!”

“Yeah, Keith!” Pidge adds in, taking their seat at the kitchen table. “ _Seriously!_ ”

Keith tells himself that he really needs to pay more attention to what he's doing, and rushes to start making breakfast. The other two in the room are finally satisfied once he's made himself busy and have a conversation about some prince, so while he's cooking Keith allows his mind to wander to figure out where he is and how he got here. Obviously he's not in the castle nor in space, as he established shortly after he woke up, but he figures he couldn't be back on Earth either because of the presence of the other two. By the time Keith’s finished cooking a dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, pancakes, and french toast, as well as having cut up fresh fruit and set the table, he's still thoroughly confused with the situation. He decides to give himself a few minutes to gather his bearings and eat breakfast, so he sits down across from Pidge and Hunk. They completely ignore his presence and loudly chomp down their food and continue their conversation. Keith opts to quietly eat his breakfast and tune in to whatever they're talking about.

“...Either way, we get rich, Pidge,” Hunk is saying, waving around his fork full of syrupy pancake while he speaks. “But I have to marry the prince at the ball tonight. After all, I would be a better royal than you.”

Pidge gives a dramatic gasp, rocking back so violently in their chair that they almost throw themself off of it. When they roll back forward and right themself, they push up their glasses and point a slender finger at Hunk.

“Excuse you, you slob! The only kind of prince you would be would be prince of the PIGS!”

They sneer and tilt their chin up in the air, attempting to look like a royal.

“Pidge, heir to the throne, at your- ACK!”

They get cut off by a piece of pancake hitting them square in the nose, and Hunk drops the spoon he catapulted it with to laugh maniacally. Pidge screams like they got shot with an actual gun rather than a sugary piece of breakfast and retaliates by chucking a piece of egg onto Hunk’s hair. This makes him screech and throw a piece of watermelon, which makes Pidge throw some bacon, and then it turns into a full on food fight. Keith watches on in horror, fork hung midair between the french toast on his plate and his open mouth. This was absolutely nothing like the goo fight back on the castle that ended in a closer friendship between the paladins, this was pure hatred at work. Keith just barely manages to avoid a stray glob of syrup that flies his way by ducking down when another voice adds to the fray of screams.

“HEY!”

All of the chaos stop immediately and the three turn their heads towards the person speaking. Shiro is standing in the doorway, obviously irritated, with his hands on his hips. Keith is relieved, hoping that Shiro will explain what's happening, but before he can say anything the older paladin starts giving a lecture.

“Did you two forget that we have a ball to attend tonight? Or are you too wrapped up in your childish antics to care about it?”

They both promptly sit down from their battle positions, expressions reflecting that of a dog that's just gotten scolded. They both shake their heads from side to side, and then look back up at Shiro. 

“No, Dad.”

“Sorry, Dad.”

Keith's eyes just about bug out of his head, and he nearly chokes on air. Did they just say dad? It’s only then that Shiro notices the other person in the room, and he narrows his eyes at Keith.

“Why haven't you gotten started on the chores yet?”

Keith isn't sure how to respond, if he should admit that he’s pretty sure he's on drugs and hallucinating the whole thing or just go along with the situation he's ended up in. Pidge ends up making the decision for him, suddenly gasping and sheepishly pulling a list out of their pocket.

“I totally forgot to give this to him when I woke him up this morning. Here.”

Keith grabs the piece of paper held out to him, and is taken aback by how many tasks managed to be written on there. He skims over the list and sees dishes, sweeping, mopping, and laundry at the top, but there are still dozens of other duties written below in neat handwriting. He looks back up at Shiro to make sure this isn't an elaborate joke, but Shiro isn’t paying attention to him anymore.

“Kids, we have to go get you new suits for the party tonight, considering you managed to dirty them after wearing them for less than an hour.”

Hunk and Pidge at least manage to look embarrassed, and- for the first time since Keith has woken up- remain silent. They get up and file past Shiro into another room, which leaves him and Keith alone in the kitchen together. Without even looking at Keith, he says, “Do your chores. I’d say you could come to the ball with us if you finish on time, but…” Keith can hear the smirk in his voice. “You won't.”

Shiro walks away, and Keith finds himself completely alone to contemplate his situation. From what he's gathered, he's either in some twisted version of hell or on a drug trip, in which Shiro is Hunk and Pidge’s dad, and he's their servant of some sort. There's also a ball tonight featuring a prince, and Keith has never been one to turn down an opportunity to pursue a hot guy. After careful deliberation, he decides to at least attempt to make it to the party. To get to it, though, he has a lot to do; he looks around at the mess in the kitchen, down at his list of jobs, and gives a heavy sigh.

“Quiznak.”

He starts by picking up all of the food scattered around the room and throwing it in the garbage. Then, all he has to do is the dishes and to scrub all of the surfaces. Usually, that wouldn't be such a big task, but it is when the kitchen is absolutely covered in food and there are piles of plates and utensils. Keith has never been opposed to cleaning, he doesn't mind it too much considering he likes being in a neat environment, but any person would get tired after cleaning a kitchen for an entire hour and still having loads more to do. By the time several hours have passed since he finished the kitchen, he only manages to have crossed out half of the items on the list, with so many other grueling chores remaining. He flops onto the floor of the living room amid piles of folded laundry in defeat, and admits to himself for the first time today that he really wishes Lance were here with him. Although his friend is annoying pretty much all of the time and absolutely no help when it comes to cleaning, Lance is almost always hilarious and pleasurable to be around regardless of the negative attributes. If Lance were with him, he wouldn't mind not being able to go to the party everyone had been hyping up. Keith’s so caught up in moping about the lack of company that he doesn’t realize a small group of mice have hopped up onto his chest until one of them jumps right onto his face. He yelps and quickly sits up, causing the mice to fall back to the ground and run away, but they simply run towards the back door and look back at Keith, waiting until he notices the shiny light source poking in through the cracks in the house. If not for the tiny creatures, he would’ve somehow managed to miss the bright purple light glaring from outside It wouldn't be that strange if it weren't for the fact that the sun had already set, and it was dark outside.

“What the…?” Keith mumbles, sitting up and looking out the window. There's no mistake in his observation, there is definitely something shining in from just outside the house. He gets up and slowly approaches the back door, pushing it open just a little to peer through the crack. Someone is standing within the beam of light, as if they're teleporting in from somewhere else and couldn't find any other way to discreetly make an appearance. The light slowly fades away to reveal a girl, and upon further inspection, Keith realizes he knows her. He pushes the door open and steps outside.

“Allura?”

She turns around and his suspicions are confirmed when his friend gives him a dazzling smile. Unlike how the others looked and acted completely different, she appears to be the same as always, both with her personality and her appearance. 

“Keith! Ah, I knew you were around here somewhere!”

He can't help but run forward and give her a hug, relieved beyond belief to find some normal social interaction within the madness of the day. She awkwardly pats his head and gently pushes him back, looking down at him.

“Why do you smell?” she asks bluntly, and Keith blushes, stepping back away from her.

“Er, I’ve been cleaning all day,” he explains, rubbing the back of his head and glancing down in embarrassment. “I wanted to go to the party thing everyone's been talking about.”

Allura claps her hands together and gives a giddy laugh. “Excellent! I knew you would want to go, you're not a total stick in the mud after all!”

Although he should probably be offended by that, Keith gives a little chuckle anyways. Then he remembers that he can't go, and the smile slides off his face. He relays this information onto Allura, but she just scoffs and waves her hand at him.

“Of course you can go to the party, it's the whole reason I’m here!” she explains. “I’m your fairy godmother!”

Keith isn't impressed. Just when he thinks that someone in this crazy world is the same, they throw him a curveball. So maybe Allura isn't the same.

“Fairy godmother?” he asks, tone conveying his feelings about her declaration. Allura doesn't react to the attitude though, or at least show that she detects his mood; rather, she just nods happily in response to his question.

“Yep! I’m your fairy godmother! And you, Keith, can go to the ball tonight!”

Regardless of the fact that she claims to have the solution to his current predicament, he's still not very convinced.

“You don't look like a fairy godmother.”

Allura rolls her eyes at his comment and pushes past him into the house, but when he goes to follow her the door closes all by itself. Keith knows that it's pretty strange for a heavy wooden door to softly shut without any assistance, but it's also pretty strange that Pidge is an idiot, Hunk is a jerk, and Shiro is a dad, so he lets the door thing go and just waits outside. In only a few seconds, the same purple light from before flashes, but this time from the inside of the house. The door opens- by itself, just like last time- and Keith is greeted by a completely clean room. The laundry has been put away, the shelves and wooden furniture dusted, the floor swept and scrubbed, and that's just what he notices in the first few seconds.

“Tadaaaah!” Allura sings from just beside the doorway, and Keith looks over at her and is surprised to see her in a large, poofy dress. “The rest of the house is clean, too, and I look like a fairy godmother now. You’re welcome.”

"Allura is in a sparkly purple dress," he mumbles in disbelief. "The entire house just cleaned itself in a few seconds. This is insane. I am insane."

“Thank you, Allura,” he says instead of voicing his concerns. She just nods and pushes him back through the doorway, closing the door behind her.

“Now that the house is clean, we can get you to the ball,” she says, and then begins to circle around him, inspecting his clothing. After the second lap Keith begins asking her what she's doing, but she beats him to the punch.

“You look homeless. I’ll whip you up a quick party costume. Close your eyes.”

He gives her a look that says ‘I’m not doing that’ but she simply replies to the unspoken stubbornness with a look that says ‘Do it or I’ll smite you where you stand’. Keith gives in. With a deep sigh, he closes his eyes. Despite the dark cover of black his eyelids give, the bright purple flash shines through and he winces. When he opens his eyes back up again, he becomes keenly aware of his new wardrobe in only a second. Looking down, he sees that he’s wearing a poofy red dress along with silky white gloves on his hands. Although he can’t see his feet, Keith’s pretty sure he’s wearing heels.

“I…” he mumbles. “It’s, uh…”

“Great, isn't it?” Allura says, grinning from ear to ear. “Now you look like a princess!”

Keith hates to crush her hopes and dreams, but he also doesn't feel like looking like a red snowball the rest of the night.

“It’s great,” he says gently, “It really is. But… I was hoping I could look more like a prince, y’know?”

Allura starts to laugh. And then she keeps laughing. In fact, she begins laughing so hard she has to bend over and clutch her abdomen because it cramps up with how hard she’s laughing. Keith scoffs and rolls his eyes, but the corners of his lips turn up all the same.

“You! Are! Too! Funny!” she manages in between gasps of air, still shaking from her sudden fit. “Oh, Keith Kogane, you are just so cute.”

She straightens up once her outburst fades to small giggles, and tells Keith to close his eyes. He does, and shakes his head fondly at her antics. After another flash of purple light, he opens his eyes, and sees that this time he is dressed in much more suitable attire. He’s adorned in a deep red suit with a black undershirt, nothing like the marshmallow he wore prior. Comfortable boots add to the ensemble, and he's delighted to find his signature fingerless gloves have found their way onto his hands. Looking back up at Allura with a smile, he is decidedly happier with this look.

“Now, to do something with your hair!” she says, returning Keith's smile. However, this makes the smile slide right off his face. His hands reach up for his hair, self-consciously tugging on his black locks.

“I like my hair,” he mumbles, smoothing it back. Allura gives a pained expression but shakes it off and smiles again.

“Okay, I can work with that!” she says, walking past him deeper into the grove of trees just behind the house. Keith follows her regardless of the one too many horror movie feeling he gets being in the woods so late at night. It doesn't last for long, though, because Allura stops in a clearing where a large rock blocked the foliage from growing there.

“So, we’re on our own little planet right now!” she explains, gesturing around them. Keith thinks to question it, but since he still doesn't even understand how his friends are here but they're not actually his friends, drops it and just listens. “The prince’s castle is on it’s own planet, too, so I’ll work my magic to get you there as soon as possible.”

She turns around to face the other and he immediately knows to close his eyes. With another purple flash, just as bright as the others, he opens his eyes to reveal that in place of the giant boulder is… a spaceship? It looks exactly like a toy rocket that a child on Earth would play with, with a silver exterior and red cap, only just big enough for one person to fit inside. It even has a single circular window nestled above the outline of a door imbedded in the wall. When Keith curiously looks at her, Allura’s mouth twists into the biggest shit-eating grin he's ever seen on her, and he knows she's about to make a stupid comment.

“Get it? It’s a _rock_ et.”

Keith outright groans at that one, and she cackles maniacally.

“Okay, _Lance_ ,” he comments sarcastically, comparing her to the other team member that often makes stupid jokes like that, which only makes her laugh harder. He doesn't know how he managed to make the usually uptight space princess let loose and make jokes so often, but he definitely enjoys it.

“I’m done, I swear!” she says, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I really am!” she adds when she sees his ‘sure you are’ expression. “You have to get going, anyways. You only have a few hours before your rocket turns back into a rock. If you aren’t back here by midnight, I’m afraid that you’ll be stuck in this universe permanently.”

Keith is suddenly reminded of why he's out in the middle of the woods wearing a magical suit and about to get into a magical spaceship in the first place. Regardless of how ridiculous that is, he didn't go through all of this confusion, cleaning, and ridiculousness for no reason. He nods in understanding, and turns to face his friend. “Thank you for this, Allura.”

“I owe it to you, Keith,” she responds in complete seriousness. He leans forward to give her a hug in response, basking in the long overdue affection from his friend. When they finally pull apart, Keith finds himself hoping that their close relationship in this reality follows back into his normal reality, if he ever goes back to that. Allura pulls him out of his slightly angsty thoughts though, giving him Lance-esque finger guns and happily seeing him off with, “Go get ‘em, tiger.”

He scoffs at her awkward farewell but waves appreciatively in return, then turns and disappears inside the small spaceship that opened for him sometime during their exchange. He’s relieved to find the interior similar to Red’s, so he can understand the controls quickly. He takes a moment to mourn the absence of his lion, but knows that he would feel it if anything were wrong. Besides, this is a perfectly good ship and although he was kicked from the Garrison, he’s pretty sure he’s still able to pilot any ship, regardless of whether it's a sentient robotic cat or a simple rocket ship. Before he can push anything on the panel in front of him, however, the rocket takes off without any warning. Luckily, he’s already in front of the pilot seat, so he only falls down a few feet and lands on his ass in a semi-cushioned chair instead of all the way onto the hard floor. Upon lift-off, a section of the wall in front of him immediately becomes transparent almost like glass, and Keith watches in awe as he rises past the trees and up into the sky. In almost an instant, he can see the planet he was on fading from view; Allura was right, only the house and a forest existed on the tiny land. Unlike most planets, however, it wasn't spherical; rather, it was more of a flatter bowl shape, a circle with upturned edges. As he gets farther away and tears his gaze away from the peculiar planet, he’s greeted with a new view that legitimately makes him lose his breath. Dozens, if not hundreds, of small planets similar to the one he previously occupied are sprinkled throughout the space around him. Some are close enough to be connected with bridges, other have their own docking ports, and some are isolated away from the others. Not all of them are the same shape as the one containing Shiro’s home, several are huge rectangular chunks, others look almost like mountains with flat peaks for buildings to lay on. While most have homes on them, others have stores and other amenities found in regular towns back on Earth. Of everything Keith has seen in space over the past few months while being a part of Voltron, he’s never seen anything like this before. He wonders if they consider the collection of them all one civilization, or if they each claim independence; if most of them are the same species, or if it’s a variety of race and culture the same way it is back on Earth. He also wants to figure out how the gravity works on each planet, if someone can walk to the edge without falling off or if they have to be careful not to launch themself off the edge, but the rocket continues its journey to his original destination and doesn't give him the opportunity to find out anything further as he drifts further and further away. Slightly bitter, but excited for the party ahead, he averts his attention to the rest of his surroundings. Keith’s eyes immediately find the castle straight ahead of his ship. He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't even notice his approach to the luxurious palace nestled in the center of the cluster of planets. Although it looks almost identical to the Altean ship he's called home in size and shape, Keith’s fairly certain that this one is just a castle, not a weapon. Unlike the one he knows, it’s on a planet with a beautiful landscape and several gardens, and has probably always stayed there rather than having explored the universe. At that moment, Keith’s rocket changes directions and starts descending towards the ground, and he knows that he's arrived. He lands in a full docking port, and his rocket automatically shuts down the moment he steps out of it.

“Okay, Keith, here we go,” he murmurs to himself, brushing off his suit and running a hand through his hair. He becomes acutely aware of how nervous he is as he begins walking towards the party, and tries to shake off the nerves he gets when he hears the loud music and laughter from inside. He didn't go through all of that weird stuff earlier just to chicken out at a big party. He huffs out a breath as he approaches the huge doors, and whispers to himself once more as he pushes them open.

“It’s time for a ball. You got this.”


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as he pushes the huge double doors open, dozens of heads turn Keith’s way. It seems that he has arrived late. Fashionably so, he hopes.

Gulping, he forces his feet to move forward, awkwardly smiling at the other guests of all species as he takes in his surroundings. He and hundreds of other people mill around in the grand foyer, the majority of them holding fancy glasses and petite finger foods. Servants clad in clean uniforms flutter around the crowd holding trays of the hors d'oeuvres, managing to replenish everyone’s supply as quickly as they devour them. Everyone else is dressed in expensive formalwear, with jewels, makeup, and other elaborate markings adorning their faces. Keith suddenly wonders if he should’ve let Allura mimic Fake-Pidge’s and Fake-Hunk’s bedazzled accessories and tidy hairstyles. Self-conscious, he runs his fingers through his messy locks and tries to avoid staring eyes all around him.

Instead, he marvels at the gold fixtures and beautiful artwork all around the gigantic room. There are multiple chandeliers, grand staircases, interesting artifacts, and a multitude of hallways leading to different sections of the gigantic castle. In all his life, he has never seen such a magnificent sight. Keith is running his fingers along the carvings of a marble column when a voice interrupts his awe.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Keith turns, startled, and sees two familiar eyes staring back at him.

“Lance?” he asks stupidly.

Lance laughs, surprised, the corners of his eyes crinkling up in delight. Keith blushes a deep red, embarrassed. This may be Lance, but it isn’t his Lance. It’s clear he must have high status in this universe. Like everyone else, he has markings on his face, light blue designs softly cupping his cheeks and face. His suit is the same light blue, with gold accents here and there. His hair, too, is neatly coiffed, every stray hair accounted for. Even so, his dorky little smile is the exact same and a comforting sight. There has to be some evil twist to this, Keith thought, like how Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge are evil. Lance doesn’t particularly seem evil, however, and Keith waits for him to finish laughing to find out what the joke was.

“Most people call me ‘Your Highness’ or ‘Your Majesty,’” he explains, still grinning. “It’s been a while since someone just called me Lance.”

Of course. That was the catch. Why wouldn’t he be the ruler of this fancy kingdom?

“I’m sorry,” Keith chokes out, pulling his fingers anxiously. He isn’t sure why the situation at hand is getting to him so seriously. He wonders if it is because he secretly wished he and Lance- the real Lance- had met on better terms. Less of a rivalry, and more of a friendship. Now, here is a take two of sorts, and he has already made it weird. Go figure.

“No need to be sorry,” Lance says, reaching forward and grabbing Keith’s hands to stop the nervous wringing. “I actually appreciate it.”

Keith’s jaw drops just slightly at the physical contact. Neither of them are rarely ever this forward in the real world unless it’s an extremely serious moment. If Keith’s cheeks could get any redder they would; he isn’t sure what to say, but Fake Lance has that covered.

“Would you mind dancing with me?” he asks with a hopeful smile. Keith, still unable to speak, simply nods. Excited, Lance pulls him forward into the center of the room. Finally able to swallow the lump in his throat, he asks, “What about the music?”

As if on cue, Lance waves a hand at an orchestra that has suddenly appeared in the corner and classical music fills the room. He moves one of his hands to Keith’s waist, and begins a simple waltz.

Keith knows they are the only ones dancing, so he is certain that everyone attending the ball is staring at them. Unlike when he first entered the castle, though, he finds that he doesn’t really care. As the heat in his cheeks fades, he becomes aware of the heat coming from Lance’s close proximity. They meet eyes.

“There are so many people here,” Keith comments to move past the tension. “Why did you come over to me?”

He can tell Lance is pondering his answer, eyebrows furrowing together just slightly and his tongue pushing against the inside of his cheek in thought.

“You just seem… different,” he answers slowly. Keith narrows his eyes, assuming it’s an insult of sorts. “In a good way,” Lance quickly tacks on after reading the other’s expression. “Everyone else here feels the need to show off. You don’t seem like you need to impress anybody. It’s a nice change of pace.”

Keith cocks his head to the side. This Fake-Lance doesn’t seem very fake. He just seems like… Lance. Lance in the real world often shows off to anyone that pays attention to him, and as a prince this version of Lance probably does the same. Even so, Keith knows that he values genuinity. Even with the grand bravado and uber confidence that practically excretes from his pores, Lance rarely says anything he doesn’t mean. Clearly, he values people that exhibit the same type of honesty.

“Maybe you should follow suit, then.”

Lance’s expression changes into a shocked one. Keith really enjoys the face, but he figures he should clarify.

“Well, you’re a prince with a ginormous castle, and you’re dressed like everyone else here. If you like uniqueness, why are you trying to impress them by being the same?”

Lance suddenly stops their waltz. By now, multitudes of other couples had joined them on the dance floor, so the sudden lack of movement is noticeable. Keith panics, fearing he has said the wrong thing and ruined the whole night.

“You’re right,” Lance agrees. He pulls a handkerchief out of his suit and takes all of the pretty markings off his face. Afterwards, he ruffles his hair until it looks the way it usually does. “Now I look less like Prince Lance, and more like Lance,” he grins. “C’mon, I wanna show you something.”

A relieved Keith allows his hand to be grabbed again, and the both of them take off running, giggling at the shocked expressions of the onlookers. Out of the corner of his eye, Keith sees a flabbergasted group of people staring at them- Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge. Ignoring them, he follows Lance out of the foyer and into a series of adjoining hallways until they find themselves outside.

It’s dark out with the only light coming from the moon and a few dimly lit lanterns. They are by the border of the planet, and robust green hedges are the only thing separating them from the vast space just past it.

“This is something not meant to impress anyone,” Lance says once they stop running. “This… this is for me.”

He suddenly disappears into the hedges, and Keith’s stomach drops, fearing he has just launched himself into space. He quickly follows him through, but when he emerges from the brush he is met not with the darkness of the universe, but with a lush garden. He looks around in awe at the dozens of flowers, trees, fruits, and vegetables tucked away into the hidden alcove. Various statues, fountains, and hanging lights provide ambiance. There are even butterflies and bees gracefully flying around, adding to the mystical effect of the area. The garden is clearly tended to with love, and after looking at everything with awe he turns back to Lance.

“This is gorgeous,” he compliments. “Did you grow all this?”

Lance flushes with pride.

“It used to be a tiny flower garden that my mother started,” he responds, sitting down on a bench and gesturing for Keith to join him. “After she passed away, I decided to add to it. And now…”

He looks around at his work, a pleased grin spreading across his face.

“Well, I think she’d like it.”

“I’m sure she would,” he says softly, fully meaning it.

Keith is the one to initiate the physical contact next by reaching over and taking Lance’s hands in his own. Lance’s smile slowly slides off his face, staring intensely at Keith. Neither of them look away, just gaze into each other’s eyes while breathing in the cool night air.

“Can I kiss you?” Lance asks. Keith nods at him, breathless.

Lance lifts a hand to gently cup Keith’s face before leaning in to kiss him. He’s quick to reciprocate, placing one of his hands over Lance’s and the other on the opposite side of his face. The kiss is gentle but passionate, and they pull apart just briefly to breathe before meeting once again.

Keith can’t believe it is actually happening, but here he is, kissing the boy of his dreams.

Well, a version of him, anyway. In an instant, the pleasure that had filled him from head to toe turns staticky when he remembers this is all some sort of hallucination. It can’t really be happening. He exits the kiss, and the confused expression on Lance’s face nearly breaks his heart.

“Lance, I-” he rushes to explain, but he is interrupted by the sudden chimes of a large clock. His eyes widen in panic and he leaps off the bench.

“I have to go,” he says. As much as he wants to stay here with someone who reciprocates his feelings, the real people in his life need him. He can’t be there for them if he gets stuck here forever. God, he wants to, though. What he wouldn’t give for just five more minutes with a Lance that likes him back.

“Wait!” Lance yelps, jumping up too, grabbing Keith’s hand to try to keep him there. “I don’t even know your name!”

“I have to go!” Keith repeats again as the second chime rings. “I’m sorry!”

He tugs his hand out of Lance’s, leaving behind a glove as he takes off running back the way they came.

“Wait!” Lance calls again, but Keith has always been the fastest of all the paladins. He causes a ruckus as soon as he re-enters the gigantic room, guests diving out of his way as he barrels full speed towards the doors.

“Guards! Stop him!” Lance orders, still pursuing him. Keith feels bad about shoving the men away from him, but he only has a few precious moments to make his escape and knows it has to be done. By the time the guards make it to the front door, Keith is already boarding his rocket. As it takes off, he gives a guilty look back to the castle. Far below him, he sees Lance staring up at him.

Heartbroken, Keith tears his gaze away and sits back in his seat, chimes still booming in the distance. This time, he can’t stomach looking out at all of the other planets. Instead, he softly touches his lips in disbelief that he had actually kissed Lance McClain.

It certainly felt real.

The last chime of the clock echoes out into space, and instantaneously a shudder goes through his ship. Pushing Lance out of his thoughts, Keith bolts up in his seat as another wave shakes his rocket. A few moments later, the ship suddenly drops a few feet as if it is getting heavier by the second. Keith looks out the window and sees the planet he had woken up on is just up ahead. He glances around to see if he can make the ship go any faster, but another wave knocks him back to the floor and the rocket falls even further. He quickly realizes what is happening; his rocket is turning back into a rock.

He steadies himself against the chair and waits until the next shudder moves through the vehicle. As soon as it ends, Keith flings the door open and hopes he is able to breathe in the atmosphere. The planet is now a dozen or so feet away, and Keith knows this is his last chance to reach safety. Just as the last wave shakes the rocket, Keith catapults himself out of it and leaps forward to the edge of the bowl-like planet. As he rolls to absorb the impact, behind him the rocket completes its transformation back into a rock and plummets far down below.

There is gravity in this place, then, he muses.

He stands up to brush the dirt off his suit, but realizes his gorgeous ensemble has reverted back to the rags he had on before the ball. Ironically, the only remainder of his night is a single leather glove.

Keith sadly makes his way back into the house. If this is all a dream, he wants to wake up now. He grabs a stray apple out of the kitchen before heading back up the rickety stairs. Despite the rough end to a beautiful night, it feels good to have his feelings for Lance out in the open, in one way or another. He doubts he will ever have the courage to say how he really feels. As he falls asleep, he gently rubs the familiar leather glove back and forth in his hands.

It seems only seconds pass before he is woken up again. This time, it is not by the shrill screech of Fake-Pidge, but rather a loud trumpeteering from outside.

He forces his eyes open and enjoys a brief moment of sunshine warming his face before the loud trumpeteering stars up again.

“Hear ye, hear ye!” a loud voice announces. “Will all residents of this abode present themselves to his majesty, Prince Lance!”

This is enough to rouse Keith. He jumps out of bed and races to the window, throwing aside the curtains to see a crowd that has gathered just outside the house. In the middle of the circle of people is a small ship, clearly royal despite the small stature, and a single royal servant standing in front of it. The announcer of the previous message, Keith assumes.

As he had seen last night on his way back from the ball, the house he currently calls home is at the very edge of the cluster of planets that make up the kingdom. While he hadn’t met anyone other than the alternative versions of his real-life family, Keith assumes the excess of people on their tiny plot of land are spectators. Of what, Keith is unsure.

He is jarred from his thoughts by the slamming of the front doors, and he watches from his perch as Pidge and Hunk race out into the yard, followed by a much more graceful Shiro.

“The Prince is looking for a guest from the ball last night,” the announcer proclaims. “Will every inhabitant of this house who attended please step forward?”

The crowd parts to allow the three new arrivals to do just that, and Keith realizes what is happening.

Lance is looking for him.

He doesn’t wait to see how Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro react to the message and leaps away from the window to fly down the stairs. However, unlike the day prior, the creaky door separating his tiny room from the rest of the house refuses to budge. No matter how hard he shoves, something heavy traps him inside.

“Are you kidding me?” he yells, frustrated, bounding back upstairs and over to the window. He arrives just in time to see why the servant wants his Not-Friends to step forward for. A glove, the very same glove Keith was wearing last night (and for most of his life) is held up like a fragile artifact. His heart swells knowing Lance has searched the entire kingdom just to see him again, only to break moments later when he realizes he is stuck high up in the house with no escape. He can only watch, helpless, as a prideful Hunk steps forward to attempt to claim the glove as his own. Keith feels relief when Hunk can barely manage to fit three fingers in before the glove’s delicate stitching threatens to give way. The servant pulls it away, scandalized, as Hunk huffs angrily and stalks back to his dad. Pidge snickers at the failure, stepping forward snobbily and extending their hand for the servant to place the glove on. Unlike Hunk, the glove sags on their hand, barely halfway full despite the entirety of their hand and part of their wrist being inside.  
“Hey, no fair!” they whined, stomping their feet when the servant once again took the glove back. “Hunk stretched it out with his stupidly big gorilla hands!”

Hunk is mad his attempt at royalty failed, but he is even madder at his sibling’s comment.

“How dare you! At least I don’t have dumb tiny baby hands!” he yells back, pointing a finger accusingly.

“Meatloaf hands!”

“Spaghetti fingers!”

“ENOUGH!” Shiro yells, tired of his children’s antics, stopping them dead in their tracks. The pair of them freeze and at least have the dignity to look guilty at the cold glare they receive. Shiro steps forward to address the servant.

“I’m afraid my children are the only ones who attended the ball,” he says, the cruel, lying-

“Lance!” Keith yells from the window, but he is too high up and the crowd is too loud with their chattering for anyone to hear him. “LANCE!”

Devastated, Keith can only watch as the crowd begins to disperse, the servant thanking Shiro for his time as he walks back to the ship to relay the news to the prince. Despite the three human inhabitants of the house who are set on Keith’s unhappiness, there are other creatures looking out for him. He glances down when he hears squeaks to find the mice from yesterday tugging at the end of the curtains.

He gasps and thanks the mice, hurrying to escape the confines of the tiny room before it is too late. He tears the curtains off the rod, ripping them in half lengthwise and tightly knotting the ends together. With one long piece of rope-like fabric at his disposal, Keith tightly ties one end around a bedpost and climbs up into the window.

“Wish me luck,” he says to the mice, who offer him a chorus of squeaks as he slowly descends from the window. His knuckles are white from gripping it so hard, legs shaking as he begins walking his way to the ground. He makes it about a third of the way down the house when someone in the crowd spots him, pointing with a shout as the previously thinning out crowd somehow assembles instantaneously to watch.

Keith is about halfway down when he faintly hears the scraping of wood above him. He only has a moment to look above him, horrified, as the solid wood bed slides towards the window and slams against the wall, the force sudden enough to make him lose his grip on the fabric. He shrieks as he falls backwards, not knowing how far away the ground is or how fatal and injury from this height would be.

He doesn’t get the chance to find out because he manages to land perfectly into someone’s arms, bridal style. When he opens his eyes he had squeezed shut somewhere along the way, he is met with a familiar set of caramel browns.

“Hi,” he breathes out, a wave of happiness coursing through him at the smile that follows his greeting. Lance is clearly thrilled at the turn of events, softly breathing back a, “Hi.”

They stare at each other dumbly for a second, the crowd around them shockingly silent, when Keith says, “My name is Keith,” and leans in for a kiss. Lance is keen to kiss back, gently sliding Keith off of him to stand so that he can wrap his hands around the other’s face.

Lance pulls away to ask, “Will you go back with me to the castle?”

Keith grins, quickly responding, “Of course,” with nearly no internal debate whatsoever. For Lance, he would do anything.

The pair turn around and begin heading to the ship, hand in hand. Although Keith knows his real friends are nothing like the alternate versions that he encountered at this house, he enjoys the shocked expressions of Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge as he walks by with his prince. The crowd whispers fiercely about the situation, both the prince’s new beau as well as the mysterious boy the Shiro residence kept locked upstairs. Keith ignores them, opting to climb inside the ship with Lance to return back to the castle.

“I’m sorry I ran yesterday,” he apologizes before the servant climbs in after them. “I-”

“It’s okay, Keith,” Lance interrupts, raising a hand to brush aside a stray piece of hair that had fallen in front of Keith’s eyes. “I don’t care what happened. All I care about is you.”

Keith smiles, amazed at how everything turned out for him in the end. It had been a long day and a half, yet here he is with the person he had been pining for for years. Despite the peculiarity of the kingdom and its inhabitants, as long as Lance feels the same way about him as he does for Lance, everything will be okay.

_“Keith?”_

“Yes, Lance?” Keith responds, looking back at the other passenger. Instead of asking something, Lance furrows his eyebrows. “I didn’t say anything,” he says, looking confused despite the small smile on his face.

“Really?” Keith asks, a small frown forming on his face. I could’ve sworn I heard-”

_“Keith?”_

This time, he knows it’s not this Lance speaking, because although he hears his name called once more he is staring directly at the other man whose lips don’t move once. Despite all the strangeness that occurred during his short time on this system of planets, Keith is particularly troubled by this situation. He looks around the ship, bewildered at how he is hearing Lance call his name when the only other person inside the ship is a Lance who very clearly isn’t calling his name.

_“Keith!?”_

This time, he is filled not with bewilderment but with a rush of adrenaline, and he realizes with a panic that his surroundings are disappearing. He looks back over at Lance, who looks just as shocked, but is eerily silent. Keith grapples for his hand, but in an instant the ship he was sitting in disappears and he is emerged in complete darkness. His head feels like it is filled with static, and he catches his name once more before losing consciousness.

_“KEITH!”_

Or, perhaps, before he gains consciousness.


End file.
